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Saturday, July 06, 2024 5:31:11 PM
Why is South Africa's navy joining exercises with Russia and China?
"South African anti-migrant ‘vigilantes’ register as party for next year’s polls
"South Africa: Death toll edges to nearly 400 after devastating floods
"‘A True South African Giant’: Tributes for Desmond Tutu, a Force for Harmony""
Related: There Is a Jewish Hope for Palestinian Liberation. It Must Survive.
"Omar and Tlaib Are Condemned in the US for Saying What Prominent Israelis Are Saying
"Supporting Palestinian rights is antisemitic because Israel wants it to be""
[...]
In 1988, bombs exploded at restaurants, sporting events and arcades in South Africa. In response, the African National Congress, then in its 77th year of a struggle to overthrow white domination, did something remarkable: It accepted responsibility and pledged . https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/21/world/anc-acts-to-halt-civilian-attacks.html .. to prevent its fighters from conducting such operations in the future. Its logic was straightforward: Targeting civilians is wrong. “Our morality as revolutionaries,” the A.N.C. declared, “dictates that we respect the values underpinning the humane conduct of war.”
P - Historically, geographically and morally, the A.N.C. of 1988 is a universe away from the Hamas of 2023, so remote that its behavior may seem irrelevant to the horror that Hamas unleashed last weekend in southern Israel. But South Africa offers a counter-history, a glimpse into how ethical resistance works and how it can succeed. It offers not an instruction manual, but a place — in this season of agony and rage — to look for hope. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=173027424
17 February 2023
The Russian fleet, led by the Admiral Gorshkov warship
South Africa is holding a joint military exercise with Russia and China that opposition
figures say amounts to an endorsement of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The US has also criticised the 10-day naval drills, which will continue over the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
But South Africa's government says it remains neutral regarding the conflict, and that it routinely hosts similar drills with other countries, including France and the US.
What are South Africa, Russia and China doing?
The naval exercises, called Mosi, which means "smoke" in the Tswana language, are taking place in the Indian Ocean, off the South African coast.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) says 350 members of its armed forces will take part .. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/sas-navy-exercises-between-china-and-russia-benefit-nations-%E2%80%93-modise .
Russia has announced it will send its Admiral Gorshkov warship, which carries Zircon hypersonic missiles. These fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of 1,000 km (620 miles).
Moscow "will be trying to show that despite its setbacks in the war in Ukraine, its armed forces are still very powerful", says Denys Reva from South Africa's Institute for Security Studies.
The SANDF has said little about the forthcoming exercise, but a 2019 joint drill between the three countries involved seven ships - one warship from each nation, plus fuelling ships and survey ships.
They practised tackling coastal fires and floods, and recapturing ships from pirates.
* How Russia has outflanked Ukraine in Africa
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-61802498
[Insert: Sudan - Darfur - South Sudan
"Pursuant to my first reply - 'The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis': Understanding the Darfur Conflict"
[...]This conflict was largely portrayed in racial and religious terms: the Arab Muslim north against the black African
south, which was largely Christian and animist. However, the conflict was essentially over control
of the south’s resources – fertile land and oil.
[...] [ The New ‘Africa Corps’: Russia’s Wagner Rebranding
Copyright © 2024 Energy Intelligence Group
https://www.energyintel.com/0000018f-a9d5-d735-a98f-fbdda67a0000
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174551819]
Why is this exercise controversial?
A White House spokesperson said in January: "The United States has concerns about any country... exercising with Russia as Russia wages a brutal war against Ukraine."
South Africa previously abstained from a UN vote condemning the invasion. It also refused to join the US and Europe in imposing sanctions on Russia.
The South African government sparked a political row .. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-63395322 .. when it gave permission for a superyacht called the Nord, which is linked to the sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov, to dock in Cape Town - although it is thought the vessel did not actually go there.
The sanctioned Russian cargo ship, Lady R, was also allowed to unload supplies at a South African naval base. The government said it contained a delayed order for ammunition. Why is South Africa's navy joining exercises with Russia? .. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-64380572
South Africa points out it has held four joint exercises with the US since 2011, as well as drills with France and Germany.
"All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide," said Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, during a visit to her country by her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in January.
She said that trying to stop South Africa from conducting joint military exercises with the countries of its choice amounted to "an abuse of international practice" ..https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-64373448 .
What weapons are being supplied to Ukraine?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62002218
Why is South Africa taking part?
South Africa is also taking part because its armed forces are underfunded and overstretched, according to Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, head of the South African Institute of International Affairs.
The navy's priorities are to protect fisheries in its home waters and combat piracy in the Indian Ocean.
"It needs to team up with other nations to have the capacity to deal with things off its coast such as piracy," she says.
Naledi Pandor (R) defended the naval exercise at a press conference in January with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Reuters
South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) also has long-standing ties with Russia.
These date back to the years of white-minority rule before 1994, says Dr Alex Vines, from the Chatham House think tank in London.
"The older leaders in the ANC still have an emotional attachment to Moscow, because it constantly supported their struggle," he says. "That makes it very difficult for South Africa to turn its back on Russia over Ukraine."
Russia, China and South Africa also have modern-day ties because they are all members of the Brics alliance .. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-61894760 .
The group - which also includes Brazil and India - represents some of the world's leading emerging economies.
What do Russia and China want?
Ms Sidiropoulos says Russia has more to gain than anyone from this year's exercise.
"It shows that Russia can still project its power far away, and that it still has allies around the world.
"It lets them say that it's not the world that's against Russia. Only the West is against Russia."
China is keen to keep shipping lanes open for commercial vessels travelling from its ports to African destinations, says Dr Vines.
It also wants to establish its naval power in the Indian Ocean, off the African coast.
"It's about getting its navy out into international waters.
"China already uses Djibouti on the East African coast as a naval base to combat piracy, and perhaps it is hoping to get more bases."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-64380572
"South African anti-migrant ‘vigilantes’ register as party for next year’s polls
"South Africa: Death toll edges to nearly 400 after devastating floods
"‘A True South African Giant’: Tributes for Desmond Tutu, a Force for Harmony""
Related: There Is a Jewish Hope for Palestinian Liberation. It Must Survive.
"Omar and Tlaib Are Condemned in the US for Saying What Prominent Israelis Are Saying
"Supporting Palestinian rights is antisemitic because Israel wants it to be""
[...]
In 1988, bombs exploded at restaurants, sporting events and arcades in South Africa. In response, the African National Congress, then in its 77th year of a struggle to overthrow white domination, did something remarkable: It accepted responsibility and pledged . https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/21/world/anc-acts-to-halt-civilian-attacks.html .. to prevent its fighters from conducting such operations in the future. Its logic was straightforward: Targeting civilians is wrong. “Our morality as revolutionaries,” the A.N.C. declared, “dictates that we respect the values underpinning the humane conduct of war.”
P - Historically, geographically and morally, the A.N.C. of 1988 is a universe away from the Hamas of 2023, so remote that its behavior may seem irrelevant to the horror that Hamas unleashed last weekend in southern Israel. But South Africa offers a counter-history, a glimpse into how ethical resistance works and how it can succeed. It offers not an instruction manual, but a place — in this season of agony and rage — to look for hope. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=173027424
17 February 2023
![](http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6FD6/production/_128403682_russianfleet.png.webp)
The Russian fleet, led by the Admiral Gorshkov warship
South Africa is holding a joint military exercise with Russia and China that opposition
figures say amounts to an endorsement of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The US has also criticised the 10-day naval drills, which will continue over the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
But South Africa's government says it remains neutral regarding the conflict, and that it routinely hosts similar drills with other countries, including France and the US.
What are South Africa, Russia and China doing?
The naval exercises, called Mosi, which means "smoke" in the Tswana language, are taking place in the Indian Ocean, off the South African coast.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) says 350 members of its armed forces will take part .. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/sas-navy-exercises-between-china-and-russia-benefit-nations-%E2%80%93-modise .
Russia has announced it will send its Admiral Gorshkov warship, which carries Zircon hypersonic missiles. These fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of 1,000 km (620 miles).
Moscow "will be trying to show that despite its setbacks in the war in Ukraine, its armed forces are still very powerful", says Denys Reva from South Africa's Institute for Security Studies.
The SANDF has said little about the forthcoming exercise, but a 2019 joint drill between the three countries involved seven ships - one warship from each nation, plus fuelling ships and survey ships.
They practised tackling coastal fires and floods, and recapturing ships from pirates.
* How Russia has outflanked Ukraine in Africa
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-61802498
[Insert: Sudan - Darfur - South Sudan
"Pursuant to my first reply - 'The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis': Understanding the Darfur Conflict"
[...]This conflict was largely portrayed in racial and religious terms: the Arab Muslim north against the black African
south, which was largely Christian and animist. However, the conflict was essentially over control
of the south’s resources – fertile land and oil.
[...] [ The New ‘Africa Corps’: Russia’s Wagner Rebranding
Copyright © 2024 Energy Intelligence Group
https://www.energyintel.com/0000018f-a9d5-d735-a98f-fbdda67a0000
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174551819]
Why is this exercise controversial?
A White House spokesperson said in January: "The United States has concerns about any country... exercising with Russia as Russia wages a brutal war against Ukraine."
South Africa previously abstained from a UN vote condemning the invasion. It also refused to join the US and Europe in imposing sanctions on Russia.
The South African government sparked a political row .. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-63395322 .. when it gave permission for a superyacht called the Nord, which is linked to the sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov, to dock in Cape Town - although it is thought the vessel did not actually go there.
The sanctioned Russian cargo ship, Lady R, was also allowed to unload supplies at a South African naval base. The government said it contained a delayed order for ammunition. Why is South Africa's navy joining exercises with Russia? .. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-64380572
South Africa points out it has held four joint exercises with the US since 2011, as well as drills with France and Germany.
"All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide," said Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, during a visit to her country by her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in January.
She said that trying to stop South Africa from conducting joint military exercises with the countries of its choice amounted to "an abuse of international practice" ..https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-64373448 .
What weapons are being supplied to Ukraine?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62002218
Why is South Africa taking part?
South Africa is also taking part because its armed forces are underfunded and overstretched, according to Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, head of the South African Institute of International Affairs.
The navy's priorities are to protect fisheries in its home waters and combat piracy in the Indian Ocean.
"It needs to team up with other nations to have the capacity to deal with things off its coast such as piracy," she says.
![](http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6EB9/production/_131254382_facc98eb1e43df521d5870ed15f3c2b00e6293320_0_4242_28271000x666.jpg.webp)
Naledi Pandor (R) defended the naval exercise at a press conference in January with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Reuters
South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) also has long-standing ties with Russia.
These date back to the years of white-minority rule before 1994, says Dr Alex Vines, from the Chatham House think tank in London.
"The older leaders in the ANC still have an emotional attachment to Moscow, because it constantly supported their struggle," he says. "That makes it very difficult for South Africa to turn its back on Russia over Ukraine."
Russia, China and South Africa also have modern-day ties because they are all members of the Brics alliance .. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-61894760 .
The group - which also includes Brazil and India - represents some of the world's leading emerging economies.
What do Russia and China want?
Ms Sidiropoulos says Russia has more to gain than anyone from this year's exercise.
"It shows that Russia can still project its power far away, and that it still has allies around the world.
"It lets them say that it's not the world that's against Russia. Only the West is against Russia."
China is keen to keep shipping lanes open for commercial vessels travelling from its ports to African destinations, says Dr Vines.
It also wants to establish its naval power in the Indian Ocean, off the African coast.
"It's about getting its navy out into international waters.
"China already uses Djibouti on the East African coast as a naval base to combat piracy, and perhaps it is hoping to get more bases."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-64380572
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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